Turn signal



Sept.. i7, i935. J. G. GUTTMANN A QMAW TURN SIGNAL Filed April 9, 1954/5/ Z l A.

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JasEP/f G. Surf/MNM Ffm www@ Patented Sept. 17, 1935 UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE 6 Claims.

This invention relates to a signal device for a vehicle such as anautomobile, and particular- 1y to a signal adapted to indicate when theautomobile is to make a turn, such as a left turn.

It is desirable in automobiles, especially those of the closed type, tohave some simple and easily operated means for indicating to traiiicwhen the vehicle is to make a turn, particularly a left turn. Manydrivers signal a left turn by opening a door on the left hand side ofthe car or by extending the hand and arm through a window. It islaborious and inconvenient to open the door and it is inconvenient anduncomfortable to lower the window and extend the hand and arm especiallyin cold weather.

It is an object of this invention to provide an extremely simple and`easily operated leit turn signal which can be easily and quickly placedon all makes of cars.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a simple and easilyoperated turn signal comprising few parts, which parts can .be readily.assembled into koperative position.

It is more specifically an object oi the invention tao provide a turnsignal comprising a casing having parts disposed at the inner and outersides of the body portion of the automobile and having portionsextending through said body portion and connected together, saidportions having a passage therethrough, a lever constituting a turnsignal fulcrumed in the part .of said casing at the outer side of saidbody` portion, a member secured to said lever and .extending throughsaid passage, said other part having a sleeve journaled thereon, ahandle secured to said sleeve and said member and means for causinglongitudinal movement of said lsleeve and member when said handle isoscillated to operate said lever together with means for returning thelever and handle to normal position.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will be fullyset forth in the following description made in connection with the.accompanying drawing, in which like reference characters refer tosimilar parts throughout the several views and in which:-

Fig. 1 is a vertical section through a portion `of an automobile showingthe signal attached thereto, said signal appearing in side elevation;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section through a portion of an automobileshowing parts of the signal, said section being taken substantially online 2-2 of Fig. 1 as indicated by the arrows; and

Fig. 31s a vertical section taken substantially on line 3--3 of Fig. 2as indicated by the arrows.

Referring to the drawing, a part of an automobil-e is shown comprising apart of the body thereof. This comprises the post or door frame 5, aportion of the roof or top of the body 6 hav- 5 ing the cornice portion6a thereon. Post 5 has the front portion 1 and a portion of thewindshield 8 carried thereby is illustrated. A portion 9 -of one sidedoor is also shown.

The device of the invention is adapted to be l mounted in the post ordoor frame and for this purpose :a passage 5a is made in said post orframe preferably of cylindrical form. The device comprises a bracket l0having a flange portion Ilila of substantially rectangular form in frontl5 elevation and having a beveled edge, which flange fits against theouter side of the post or frame 5.

A lug -Ib projects from flange Illa and has a slot me formed in itsupper portion thus providing a pair of spaced vertical flanges tEd.Bracket Ill 20 has a sleevelike portion Ille extending into the passage5.a, which vportion has a bore or passage extending therethrough, saidbore being interiorly threaded at i-ts inner end. A second bracket Il.is provided, vsomewhat in the form of a stud, the same havin-g avcylindrical portion lla extending into passage 5a and being exteriorlythreaded to screw into the end of the portion me. Member Il is providedwith an enlarged collarlike portion Hb forming a shoulder adapted toengage the outer side of a 4plate I2. Said plate is of substantiallyrectangular form in elevation and as shown is provided with a bevelededge, the same being `apertured to have portion Ila extend therethrough.ySaid plate engages the inner side of the post or frame 5 and member Ilis screwed into lportion we until flange lila and plate i2 are clampedtight against said post or frame. Member Il is provided with a portionHc which will have its periphery of hexagonal or other shape so `as tobe readily turned. A stem portion Hd projects from portion llc, the samebeing of cylindrical form. .A sleeve I3 .is revolubly mounted .on 4sternportion Il Id and the same has formed therein a helical cam `slot I3a. Ascrew I4 shown 45 as having a slotted head extends through slot 13a andis iixedly secured in the stem portion i ld. A handle l5 is providedshown as integral with sleeve I3, the same having a hub portion i5abored and threaded to be screwed onto and sewcured 4to the threaded endla of a rod I6 extending through a longitudinal bore formed in member I|and through the passage or bore in `Slcracket t0. Rod I6 has an enlargedheaded portion i612 projecting. into the slot Illc, the same beingbifurcated and having disposed between the bifurcations thereof theilattened end I'Ia of a lever I'I which for the greater part of itslength is in the form of a rod preferably of cylindrical form. Saidportion lla is connected to portion I 6b by a headed rivet or pivot pinI8. Said portion IIa is also pivoted to or iulcrumed on the flanges Idand a pivot pin i9 extends through portion IIa and flanges Ilid, thesame being held in pl-ace in any suitable manner as by having heads atits outer ends. A compression coiled spring 20 surrounds the rod IGwithin portion IBe having one end bearing against the enlarged portionIGb and its other end bearing against the end of portion IIa of memberII. The rod I'I extends vertically -along the frame or post 5 and hasits upper end curved outwardly and upwardly as shown at I'Ib, said upperend being flattened and secured to a rim portion I'Ic within which is acolored glass signal portion Hd. W'hile the portion I'Id may bevariously made, in practice it has been found to be very eiiicient tohave this made of a novel form of red glass having small circularportions formed therein which make the same very distinctive either indaytime or at night. Lever I'I is provided with a button or bumper 2Ishown as of semi-spherical form and secured to rod I'I by the rivet 22.Member 2| will be made of rubber or soft material and will prevent leverI'I from striking the side of the automobile and marring the same.

In operation, the device will normally occupy the position shown in Fig.l with rod I'I extending substantially vertically. The handle I5 isdisposed within the automobile and in convenient position to be reachedby the hand of the driver. When it is ldesired to signal a turn thedriver presses on the handle I5 oscillating the same and rotating sleeveI3 upon stem Ild. Handle I5 rotates on the threads at the threadedportion Ita of rod I6, but this causes a negligible movement of saidhandle longitudinally of rod IG. A partial rotation of handle I5 movessleeve I3 inwardly longitudinally of stem IId quite a distance owing tothe action of the cam slot I3a on the stationary pin or screw I4. Assleeve I3 thus moves inwardly handle I5 is also moved inwardly and pullsinwardly upon the rod I6. This pulls inwardly upon the end of lever I'Iand s-aid lever is swung outwardly about its pivot I9 into substantiallyhorizontal position as indicated by the dotted lines in Figs. l and 3.As rod I6 thus moves inwardly or to the right as shown in Fig. 3, spring2B is compressed. When the operator releases handle I5 spring 20 expandspushing rod I6 to the left, swinging lever I'I to its vertical positionand moving handle I5 and sleeve I3 to the left. The parts are thusreturned to normal position by spring 20.

The device can be easily and quickly installed upon practically allmakes of cars. It is only necessary to drill a passage 5a in the doorpost or frame. The parts of the casing formed by brackets IB and II canthen be placed in position and member II screwed into portion IUe untilportions Illa and I2 are clamped against the frame. The rod I6 can bemade of the desired length and after the device is in place its threadedend I Ea can be cut off to be substantially flush with the end of hubI5a.

From the above description it is seen that applicant has provided a veryeiiicient signal and one that is quite simple in construction andcomprises few parts. The device can be easily and inexpensively made andis quite easily and conveniently operated. The parts will, of course, beplated and iinished to have a pleasing appearance. The device has beenamply demonstrated in actual practice and found to be very successfuland eiiicient.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made inthe form, details, arrangement and proportions of the parts, withoutdeparting from the scope of applicants invention, which generallystated, consists in a device capable of carrying out the objects aboveset forth in the parts and combinations of parts disclosed and dened inthe appended claims.

What is claimed is:-

l. A turn signal having in combination, means constructed and arrangedto extend through a support on an automobile, and be held in stationaryrelation thereto, said means having a passage therethrough, a leverfulcrumed on said means at the outer side thereof normally extending insubstantially vertical position and constituting a turn signal, a membersecured to said lever and extending through said passage to the interiorof said automobile, an oscillatable handle movable on said means, meansfor moving said member longitudinally to swing said lever downwardlywhen said handle is oscillated and means for returning said lever andhandle to normal position.

2. A turn signal having in combination, a casing having parts adapted tobe disposed respectively at the inner and outer sides of a body portionof an automobile, said parts extending through said body portion andbeing threaded together and having a passage therethrough, a leverfulcrumed on said part at the outer side of said body portion disposednormally in substantially vertical position and adapted to swingdownwardly and constituting a turn signal, a rod secured to said leverand extending through said passage, an oscillatable handle at the innerside of said body portion secured to said rod, a sleeve secured to saidhandle, means causing a longitudinal movement of said rod and sleevewhen said handle is oscillated to swing said lever and a spring forreturning said handle, rod and lever to normal position.

3. A turn signal having in combination, a casing having parts adapted tobe disposed respectively at the inner and outer sides of a body portionof an automobile, said parts extending:

through said body portion and being threaded together and having apassage therethrough, a lever fulcrumed on said part at the outer sideof said body portion disposed normally in substantially verticalposition and adapted to swing downwardly and constituting a turn signal,a rod secured to said lever and extending through said passage, saidpart of said casing at the inner side of said body portion having acylindrical stem, a sleeve revoluble on said stem and having a helicalslot therethrough, a member secured in said stem extending into saidslot, a handle secured to said sleeve to oscillate therewith and alsosecured to said rod whereby oscillation of said handle moves said sleeveand rod and swings said lever downwardly and a spring in said casing formoving said rod, sleeve and handle to normal position.

4. A turn signal having in combination, a bracket having a flangedisposed at the outer side of a body portion of an automobile and havinga sleevelike portion extending into said body portion, a lever fulcrumedon said flange and normally extending substantially vertically therefromand constituting a turn signal, a second bracket disposed at the innerside of said body portion having a sleevelike portion extending intosaid body portion and threaded to said rst mentioned sleevelike portion,said brackets having a passage therethrough extending through saidsleevelike portions, said second bracket having a cylindrical stem atits inner side, a rod secured to said lever and extending through saidpassage, a sleeve journaled on said stem having a cam slot therein, amember secured to said stem and extending into said slot, a handlesecured to said sleeve and to said rod whereby when said handle andsleeve are oscillated they are moved lengthwise of said stem and saidrod is pulled upon and said lever is swung downwardly and a spring insaid passage surrounding said rod and engaging the same to move saidrod, lever and handle to normal position.

5. A turn signal having in combination, means forming a casing extendingthrough a support on an automobile and having a passage therethrough, alever fulcrumed on said means at the outer side of said automobile andconstituting a turn signal, a rod secured to said lever and extendingthrough said passage, a sleeve journaled on said means at the inner sideof said automobile having a helical slot therethrough, a handle securedto said sleeve and rod and a stationary member extending into said slotwhereby when said handle is turned said rod will be pulled upon 5 andsaid lever swung downwardly and means for returning said handle andlever to normal position.

6. A turn signal for an automobile having in combination, a support atthe outer side of said 10 automobile, a lever fulcrumed on said supportnormally disposed in substantially vertical position and constituting aturn signal, a member secured to said lever and extending inwardly, asupport at the inner side of said automobile and 15 having a cylindricalportion at its inner end, a handle carried by said support and having asleeve rotatable on said portion, means for moving said handle inwardlylongitudinally of the axis of said sleeve when oscillated, said handlebeing' 20 connected to said member to move the same inwardly therewithand operate said lever.

JOSEPH G. GUTTMAN'N.

